Don’t miss fabulous classes tonight and Saturday night

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Congregants and Friends,
Don’t miss the  wonderful classes on offer at Beth El this week, starting with the highly entertaining and informative Davening for Dummies tonight at 7pm. Our next services are this Friday evening at 7pm.  Saturday evening, the highly popular Crypto Judaism class is back with Rabbi Tarlow.
Davening for Dummies: TONIGHT!
Interested in sharpening your synagogue skills and learning more about the service?  Gabbai Bam Rubenstein will be teaching an ongoing Davening for Dummies class on the second Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth El.
Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm (Tonight).  This class will cover the reasons and meaning for saying Kaddish, including sitting Shiva and the mourning period.  The class will also briefly provide an overview of Jewish burial practices. Great for all levels.
Crypto Judaism Lecture – November 16 at 6:30 pm Rabbi Tarlow will continue his fascinating series of lectures on Crypto Judaism.  We will have havdallah led by Cantor Ben-Moshe.
HOLD THE DATE:  Channukah is early this year.  Hold the date for our annual Channukah party on Sunday DECEMBER 1 at 5pm.  Huge thank you to the sisterhood and Elaine and Hal Jacobs for sponsoring this annual Beth El tradition.  More details to follow.

Weekend services and a hearty Mazal Tov

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Congregants and Friends,

We look forward to seeing you for our regular Friday night services tonight, November 8th, at 7pm.
On Saturday November 9 at 9 am we will have our Shabbat morning services in which we will also celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of Noy Lohr.  We would like to wish her parents Gil and Michelle and her sister Eden a hearty Mazal Tov and thank the Lohr family for sponsoring the kidish in honor of their daughter.
Other exciting events at Beth El include the following:
Davening for Dummies
Interested in sharpening your synagogue skills and learning more about the service?  Gabbai Bam Rubenstein will be teaching an ongoing Davening for Dummies class on second Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth El. Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm This class will cover the reasons and meaning for saying Kaddish, including sitting Shiva and the mourning period.  The class will also briefly provide an overview of Jewish burial practices.  Great for all levels.
Crypto Judaism Lecture – November 16 at 6:30 pm Rabbi Tarlow will continue his fascinating series of lectures on Crypto Judaism.  We will have havdallah led by Cantor Ben-Moshe.
HOLD THE DATE:  Channukah is early this year.  Hold the date for our annual Channukah party on Sunday NOVEMBER 24 at 5pm.  Huge thank you to the sisterhood and Elaine and Hal Jacobs for sponsoring this annual Beth El tradition. 

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message:
This week we read in Parshat Vayetze the famous story of Sulam Ya’akov, Jacob’s Ladder.  This takes place in a field outside the town of Luz, later renamed Beit (Beth) El, “The House of God”.  Ya’akov of course has no idea that he is in a sacred place when he stops for the night-in fact, he says “Indeed God is in this place and I didn’t know it!”.  We know, actually that God is in every place-if we can perceive the Divine Presence.  Perhaps we don’t have prophetic dreams, but we can be alert to the subtle signs that we are indeed in the House of God at all times, whether we are at Beth El or in any other place.  Shabbat Shalom.  Community News:
Haddasah’s monthly Brunch Bunch meeting will be on Friday, November 15 at 10:00 a.m. held at 3418 N. Lamar in the private room of Cafe Express. We will feature our local expert in cold caps therapy. Patsy Morgenstern Graham, a cancer survivor, started the non-profit, Cold Caps Assistance Projects, to assist chemotherapy patients with cold caps to minimize hair loss due to chemotherapy.  RSVP to Rochelle Kraus at (512)294-0006 or rochelle_kraus@yahoo.com.

Attend the Friends of Jewish Family Service 2013 Benefit on November 19 and enjoy Merlin Works Improv Comedy!  Help honor JFS Friend of the Year Barbara Barron as you support critical mental health and social services in Austin and Central Texas. Register at www.shalomaustin.org/jfs.

Friday night services at Beth El and upcoming events – Parashat Toldot

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Congregants and Friends,

Please join us for our regular Friday night services , November 1st, at 7pm in which we will usher in Shabbat with our beautiful song filled services.

Upcoming events at Beth El – HOLD THE DATE:

Davening for Dummies
Interested in sharpening your synagogue skills and learning more about the service?  Gabbai Bam Rubenstein will be teaching an ongoing Davening for Dummies class on second Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth El.
Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm This class will cover the reasons and meaning for saying Kaddish, including sitting Shiva and the mourning period.  The class will also briefly provide an overview of Jewish burial practices.
Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 pm This class will cover and discuss the tallit, t’fellin, and the basis and reasons for a minyan.    Wanting to share his knowledge and help inform and educate the community, Bam Rubenstein is a lively speaker whose classes are sure to be educational and entertaining.  Bam, a native of New York, grew up in Queens, graduated from Hebrew High School at Forest Hills Jewish Center, and attended both extension courses and Torah Leadership Seminars at Yeshiva University.  Bam will share his knowledge and education in this ongoing series. 
Crypto Judaism Lecture – November 16 at 6:30 pm  Rabbi Peter Tarlow of A&M Hillel will continue his ongoing series of lectures on Crypto Judaism, Saturday night November 16, at Congregation Beth El.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message: This week’s parshah, Toldot Yitzhak, deals extensively with the conflict between Esav and Ya’akov, the twin sons of Yitzhak and Rivkah.  The conflict begins in the womb, and as the brothers grow older they take on two distinct personalities. Esav is a hunter, a man of action, but his courage and strength are offset by his impulsiveness and tendency towards violence.  Ya’akov, the younger, is more thoughtful and introspective, but is afraid of direct confrontation, often resorting to trickery and deceit to get his way.  Neither brother is complete-each has good qualities which the other lacks.  It is not until two weeks from now that we will see Ya’akov face his brother head-on, when he earns the name Yisrael and becomes worthy of being the ancestor of the People of Israel.  At that point, the Torah also describes him as ‘shalem’, ‘whole’.  May we, the descendants of Ya’akov/Yisrael, combine intelligence and thoughtfulness with courage, so that we can be shlemim, wholehearted in our devotion to doing God’s work.  Shabbat Shalom.

Live From New York – Parasha Lech Lecha 10/11 and 10/12

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As you may have heard, our congregants Dani Kadosh and Juliette Meinstein will be getting married in Florida on Sunday, October 13.  The Cantor will be out of town that weekend officiating at the wedding so we have arranged for a friend of a friend to come in and lead services.  We were fortunate to find Rabbi Joshua Frankel to help lead services.
 
Because we have a guest in town, we will have some activities both Friday night and Saturday morning.  On Friday night, we will have our regular Kabbalat Shabbat services at 7:00 pm, followed by a community dinner.  As dinner is finishing, Rabbi Frankel will lead a discussion of the weekly Parasha, Lech Lecha.  Desserts and benching will follow this discussion.
 
On Saturday, October 12, we will have the baby naming of David and Katherine Lippa’s daughter.  We will have a lovely kiddush lunch following the services which is sponsored by David and Katherine Lippa in honor of their daughter’s baby naming.  We hope you can join us for this simcha.
 
Our guest rabbi is Rabbi Joshua Frankel, an Orthodox activist and educator dedicated to helping Judaism grow as a relevant, compelling, and inclusive force in contemporary life. Rabbi Frankel is an IDF combat veteran, and is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shvut. He received his rabbinical ordination from YCT Rabbinical school with the support of a Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Joshua holds a BA in Economics from Hebrew University and is currently a pursuing an MBA at the City University of New York.
 
We hope to see you at these events.

Yom Kippur 5774

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Congregants and Friends,
We look forward to ushering in Yom Kippur 5774 tonight at 7:15 with the beautiful Kol Nidrei service.  The following morning, starting at 9 am, with Mincha at 5:40 and Neilah at 7pm, with a light break the fast at the conclusion of services.  Please visit our website  schedule at www.bethelaustin.org.
We look forward to seeing everyone and wish you all a meaningful Yom Kippur.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message:

This Shabbat is of course also the Sabbath of Sabbaths, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  Yom Kippur is the only fast day which is not deferred for Shabbat, as it is itself the Ultimate Shabbat, a day to refrain from all worldly matters to concentrate exclusively on the spiritual.  Although Yom Kippur is a fast day, and a very serious time for introspection, it is far from being sad.  In fact, the Talmud states that there was no day in Israel more joyful than Yom Kippur, when the Jewish People were assured that their contrition was accepted by God.  The afternoon of Yom Kippur was even considered a propitious time for matchmaking in ancient times.   Yom Kippur should move us to a deep spiritual joy, based upon our resolve to improve our characters in the year to come.
 On a more practical note-once again I’d like to remind everyone whose health would be damaged by fasting-please do not fast.  If you are diabetic or hypoglycemic, if you need to take medicine which must be accompanied by food or drink, if you are subject to fainting, or if you have any other medical condition of the sort, Jewish Tradition actually forbids fasting.  Eat or drink enough to preserve your health, so that you can observe, God willing, many Days of Atonement to come.  The fast of Yom Kippur comes second to your health.
 May we all be sealed for good things in the coming year.  Shabbat Shalom and G’mar Hatimah Tovah.
Cantor Yitzhak Ben-Moshe